33rd APEAA Conference (September 20-22, 2012)

Catholic University of Portugal

Name: Marlia Martins Gil
Affiliation: CEAUL / Centro de Estudos Anglsticos da Faculdade de Letras da
Universidade de Lisboa Portugal / Research Programme The Reception of
Cultures in English in the Collections of the Library of the Faculty of
Letters, Lisbon University
Title: Reading Richard Garnetts International Anthology: Feminine Voices under
Restrictions
Abstract:
According to Garnett, the canon (...) is a classification difficult to maintain in
presence of the extreme complexity of modern literature. In ancient times this beneficial
system was both lofty and well defined (...) but the age of literary canons, in the sense
of select authors prescribed for imitation is gone by (...) (xii, xiii). Having in mind
Garnetts point of view, this essay has as a starting point the following question: has
there been opened a space in both The International Library of Famous Literature and
the Portuguese edition (Biblioteca Internacional de Obras Clebres) for texts/excerpts
written by women or, on the contrary, have traditional attitudes prevailed in excluding
women writers from the 20/24 volumes of these anthologies? Furthermore, is it possible
to recognise coherent criteria for the compilation of texts in both the English and the
Portuguese editions ?
The paper aims to provide answers by studying some examples.

Brief biographical note:

- Ph.D. student at the Faculty of Letters, University of Lisbon, doing research on Mona
Caird, an English polemical writer of the fin-de-sicle
- Researcher of ULICES -University of Lisbon Centre for English Studies
- Participant in the research programme The Reception of Cultures in English in the
Collections of the Library of the Faculty of Letters, Lisbon University- a partnership
of ULICES with the Library of FLUL

Note
If accepted after previewing, could you please group my presentation with
Michaela Henriquess (Same Title Variations in Contents: A Preliminary
Comparison of R. Garnetts International Anthology and Its Portuguese Counterpart),
since hers is complimentary to mine.